Next Steps
Rebuilding Indigenous Legal Orders
Next Steps is an Indigenous-led initiative to renew and rebuild Indigenous legal orders across Canada. Drawing on the University of Victoria’s renowned legal research and education programs, we support nations to holistically revitalize their legal traditions.
What We Do
Supporting Nations to Renew Their Legal Traditions
Next Steps partners with Indigenous people to support the revitalization of entire Indigenous legal orders using methods grounded in story, community knowledge, and lived experience.
Our role is to work alongside nations as they re-articulate legal principles, processes, and governance paths—strengthening Indigenous legal orders as living systems that can respond to today’s realities.
Why This Work Matters
Indigenous Legal Orders Are Living Systems
Across the lands now known as Canada, Indigenous peoples have always governed through their own legal orders. Today, communities are continuing that work—revitalizing legal traditions, strengthening relationships, and shaping legal futures rooted in Indigenous thought, language, and worldview.
Next Steps supports this momentum by creating space, tools, and partnerships where Indigenous legal orders can thrive.
How We Work
A Community-Driven, Story-Centred Approach
Our work is guided by four core principles:
Led from within communities – research is co-led, co-created and grounded in community priorities.
Rooted in stories and lived knowledge – drawing from oral histories, language, and community resources.
Focused on contemporary needs – supporting communities to address today’s challenges through their own legal traditions.
Strength-based – grounded in the abundance and resilience of Indigenous legal systems.
Community Partnerships
Partnering With Nations Across Canada
We work closely with Indigenous nations who are leading the renewal of their legal systems in areas such as lands and water, governance, kinship, citizenship, trade, and human rights. Each partnership is unique and guided by nation priorities.
Featured Partner Spotlight
Secwépemc Nation
Our ongoing collaborations include community-based research teams working to articulate, strengthen, and apply their legal traditions through story, language, and community practice.
Resources
Explore Foundational Publications
Find key resources that support Indigenous-led legal revitalization, including community-developed materials and publicly available reports.
Territory acknowledgement
Connect With Us
We welcome inquiries, collaborations, and conversations from communities, researchers, students, and organizations interested in Indigenous legal revitalization.